The course of Russian art and architecture reflects Russia's contacts with, and isolation from, other traditions. Initially, \TByzantine art and architecture\t provided the norms, but this tie was interrupted by the Mongol (Tatar) occupation (c.1240-1480). Liberation from the Tatars by the theocratic and semi-Asiatic rulers established in the \TKremlin\t palace of Moscow did not end the isolation, and Russia never experienced the influence of the Italian Renaissance. Beginning with enforced Westernization under \TPeter I\t (r. 1682-1725), however, Russian art was strongly influenced by the European mainstream. Among the distinctive traits of Russian artistic expression have been exuberant color, rich ornamentation, asymmetry of form, and a taste for literal representation as well as abstraction. Religious art, which reached its peak during the 1400s, predominated until the late 17th century. The 19th-century realist movement developed into the Russian nationalist school, which remains the style approved by Soviet official culture. In the early 20th century, Russian avant-garde artists made pioneering contributions to modern art and architecture. Beginnings of Russian Art Russian art began with the conversion of the people to Christianity about 989; because the new Orthodox faith came from Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of Eastern Christianity, the distinctive art of Byzantium served as a model. The Cathedral of Saint Sophia (1018-37) in Kiev illustrates the initial pervasive influence. The original 5-aisled rectangular brick church was topped by 13 squat domes. The cathedral was enormously enlarged in the 17th century to a 9-aisled church, with the exterior in Ukrainian baroque. The interior of the original church, however, is decorated by artists from Constantinople with superb mosaics that follow the customary Byzantine iconographic scheme. The most venerated painting in Russia, predating the Tatar invasion, was the icon The Virgin of Vladimir (late 11th-early 12th centuries; Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow), painted in Constantinople. The tender pose of the Madonna and Child set the model for countless Russian versions of the subject. Emergence of Russian Styles Distinct national traits evolved in centers that were farther removed from Byzantine influence. The Cathedral of Saint Sophia (c.1045-62) in Novgorod is notable for the marked perpendicular elevation of its white stucco walls and the elongation of the five dome drums. Inside, less costly frescoes replaced mosaic decoration. Height became even more pronounced in the cubicular stone churches of the city of Vladimir, such as the Assumption (or Dormition) Cathedral (1158-61; enlarged 1185-89) and the Cathedral of Saint Dmitri (1193-97), the white stone facade of which is covered with rich floral and animal carvings. In time, the wooden architecture of the north contributed multifaceted surfaces and a multiplicity of gables and drums, as well as conical towers and characteristic onion-shaped domes; both of these forms were disseminated to Eastern and Central Europe, as far west as Bavaria. Exuberance of form and decoration, culminating in the fantastical multitowered and polychromed Cathedral of Saint Basil in Moscow (1555-60), replaced the severity typical of earlier structures and predominated in Muscovite architecture through the 17th century. The \Ticonostasis\t--a tall altar screen composed of hierarchically ranged rows of icons--appeared in the 15th century. These screens added great splendor to church interiors, as did the large jeweled frames, developed in the 16th century, which often covered all but the faces in the icons. In painting, the somber hues and static poses of the original Byzantine models evolved into luminous colors and graceful poses. These features distinguish the work of three medieval masters: \TTheophanes the Greek\t, Andrei \TRublev\t, and Dionysius (c.1440-c.1505). Icon painting declined after 1551, when a church council banned free composition and prescribed adherence to consecrated models. The 17th century is known for the mannered icons of Simon Ushakov (1626-86) and the intricate works of the Stroganov school, elaborately decorated icons for private worship. Westernization of Russian Culture The forceful elimination of traditional Muscovite forms in art and architecture under Peter the Great marked a decline in traditional Russian culture until the 19th century. With the help of foreign masters and teachers and through state patronage, Western art and architecture were transplanted first to the new capital of Saint Petersburg (begun 1703; now Leningrad), a grandiose city with an elaborate, carefully designed plan that contrasts sharply with the chaotic and spontaneous sprawl of Moscow. Under \TElizabeth, Empress of Russia\t (r. 1741-62), the exuberant Russian late baroque flourished; the Italian architect Bartolommeo \TRastrelli\t was its primary proponent as designer of Saint Petersburg's \TWinter Palace\t (1754-62), Tsarskoe Selo (now Pushkino) Palace (1749-56), and the Smolny Cathedral in Saint Petersburg (1748-55). Neoclassicism in the style of Robert \TAdam\t came to dominate under \TCatherine II\t, the Great (r. 1762-96), after being introduced by the Scottish architect Charles \TCameron\t, in remodelings at Tsarskoe Selo (1780-85) and in the country palace (1782-86) at Pavlovsk. The huge ensembles planned by Karl Rossi (1775-1849), the Winter Palace Square (1819-29) and the Alexander Theatre (1827-32), gave Saint Petersburg a neoclassical homogeneity. From the mid-18th century onward, Russian architects became prominent: Matvei Kazakov (1733-1812) in his designs for the Kremlin Senate (1776-87) and Moscow University (1786-93); Vasili Bazhenov (1737-99) for the Pashkov House (1784-86) in Moscow; Ivan Starov (c.1743-1808) for the Tauride Palace (1783-88) in Saint Petersburg; and Andrei Voronikhin (1760-1814) for that city's Kazan Cathedral (1801-11). In painting, national talent also emerged in the mid-18th century. The work of Dmitri Levitsky (1735-1822) and Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825), whose portraits mark the first achievements of Russia's new art, shows full mastery of Western technique and conventions yet retains a local flavor. Whether they painted royalty, as in Borovikovsky's Portrait of Catherine the Great Walking in the Park at Tsarskoe Selo (1794; Russian State Museum, Leningrad), or young girls, as in Levitsky's famous series of seven paintings (1773-76) of students at the Smolny Institute, their works radiate freshness and informality. 19th-Century Painting and Architecture The high quality of Russian portraiture was maintained in the first half of the 19th century by two romantic painters: Orest Kiprensky (1782-1836) and Karl Briullov (1799-1852). Other genres also began to develop: Alexei Venetsianov (1780-1847) started a school that specialized in idyllic peasant scenes; Pavel Fedotov (1815-52) pioneered in social satire; and Aleksandr Ivanov (1806-58) was an important religious painter. Realism gave Russian painting a national idiom. Its development was spurred by the secession of 13 painters and a sculptor from the Academy of Arts (established 1757) in 1863 and the formation (1870) of an independent Association of Traveling Art Exhibits, whose members were called the Wanderers, or the Peredvizhniki. Middle-class collectors and an independent professional status freed painters from court patronage and the bureaucratic supervision of the academy. Ivan KRAMSKOI, Ilya \TRepin\t, and Vasili Perov (1833-82) excelled in the critical social genre that reflected the intellectuals' quest for reform. Aleksei Savrasov (1830-97), Ivan Shishkin (1832-98), and Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842-1910) depicted the beauties of the Russian landscape; Vasily Vereshchagin specialized in battle scenes; and Vasili Surikov (1848-1916) devoted himself to historical painting. Mikhail Nesterov (1862-1942) and Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926) added a religious and epic strain. The development of a national style occurred earlier in architecture. Konstantin Ton (1794-1881) introduced 17th-century Muscovite ornamentation in civic structures and designed neo-Byzantine churches under Nicholas I (r. 1825-55). By the end of the century many private residences and public buildings, such as the Historical Museum (1878-83) in Moscow, were built in pseudo-Muscovite style, and churches were patterned on Russian medieval architecture, as is the Saint Vladimir Cathedral, Kiev (1876-82). The Art of Faberge The work of the jeweler Peter Carl \TFaberge\t has become synonymous with late Tsarist art, because his most famous creations were for the imperial family and its court--the fantastical Easter eggs fashioned of precious metals and gems. The three Faberge ateliers--in Saint Petersburg, Kiev, and London--also produced an enormous variety of everyday objects, such as desk accessories, cigarette cases, and umbrella handles, in luxurious materials. Faberge designs were invariably eclectic, and the workmanship was of the highest order. The firm ceased operations in 1918. Influence of New European Movements About 1890 a reaction against the realists' obsession with nationalist subjects and socially useful art brought a resurgence of new painting that lasted into the 1920s. Isaak Levitan (1861-1900) turned to the outdoor (en plein air) painting of landscapes; Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939) and Valentin Serov (1865-1911) used the color discoveries of the impressionists; and Mikhail \TVrubel\t experimented with new decorative forms. Aleksandr \TBenois\t and Serge \TDiaghilev\t familiarized the Russian public with leading trends abroad through their magazine, Mir iskusstva (World of Art, 1898-1904), and their art exhibitions. They also showed Russian art (1906) in Paris and staged seasons of Russian ballet (beginning 1909) with exotic costume designs by Leon \TBakst\t and other Russian painters. The decade preceding World War I was one of a rapid succession of diverse movements. The symbolist Blue Rose movement, started in 1907, and the Cezannist Knave of Diamonds movement, started in 1910, opened the way for a new vanguard that was crucial for the development of modernism in both Russia and the West. Natalia \TGoncharova\t and Mikhail \TLarionov\t started as primitivists, relying on medieval icons and peasant prints (lubki), but by 1912 their work had evolved into the semiabstract rayonism, which was related to the \Tcubism\t and \Tfuturism\t of the West. Wassily \TKandinsky\t painted his first nonrepresentational works about 1910; in 1913, Vladimir \TTatlin\t created his first three-dimensional abstract structures; and Kasimir \TMalevich\t, who was a founder of \Tsuprematism\t, exhibited his rigorously abstract groupings of colors and shapes in 1915. Effects of the 1917 Revolution The Bolshevik Revolution found support among the advocates of radical art forms, who played a prominent role in the administration of culture from 1917 to 1921. Art was no longer confined to the easel and the studio but moved into the streets. Painters designed posters, other propaganda, and outdoor decorations for political events. Architects also worked on creating a new environment. Inspired by the search for pure forms inaugurated by Malevich, Tatlin, and El \TLissitzky\t, others--including Moisei Ginzburg (1892-1946), Ivan Leonidov (1902-59), and Konstantin Melnikov (1890-1974)--pioneered the constructivist style (see \Tconstructivism\t) with their theoretical tracts and functional projects. Many of their designs for large housing developments--combining living quarters with communal and service buildings--and for cities with flexible zones and garden belts were never realized; however, they revolutionized urban planning in the \TUSSR\t. Dominance of Official Art After 1921 many painters continued to innovate in the mass media and in practical arts such as photography, cinema, industrial and theater design, and typography. Others returned to easel painting, and various neorealist groups flourished under government patronage for the rest of the decade. Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939) and Aleksandr Deineka (1899-1969) were the outstanding painters. This diversity came to an end in 1932, however, when the Communist party imposed single nationwide unions of painters and architects. In 1934 \Tsocialist realism\t was promulgated as the official style. In the pictorial field, it took 19th-century Russian realists as the model; in architecture, it advocated a pastiche of quasi-classical styles. Political dictates and cultural isolationism prevailed in publicly displayed art. The liberalization of the late 1980s, however, revealed the existence of an "unofficial" art movement. Its members' works have been exhibited and sold in Western galleries, although few have yet been seen in the \TUSSR\t; avant-garde artists continue to work without state support. On the other hand, Malevich's suprematist paintings, suppressed since the 1920s, were shown at a Moscow exhibit in 1988. Elizabeth Kridl Valkenier Bibliography: Barron, S., and Tuchman, M., eds., Avant-Garde in Russia, 1910-1930 (1980); Bird, A., A History of Russian Painting (1987); Bowlt, John, Russian Art of the Avant-Garde: Theory and Criticism 1902-1934, rev. and enl. ed. (1988); Golomshtok, Igor, and Glezer, Alexander, Soviet Art in Exile (1977); Gray, Camilla, The Russian Experiment in Art, 1863-1922, rev. ed. (1986); Hamilton, George Heard, The Art and Architecture of Russia, rev ed. (1983); Hare, Richard, The Art and Artists of Russia (1965); Kaganovich, Kira and Abraam, Arts of Russia, 2 vols. (1967); Kennett, Audrey, The Palaces of Leningrad (1973); Lazarev, Viktor, Old Russian Murals and Mosaics from the XI to the XVI Century, trans. by Boris Roniger, rev. by Nancy Dunn (1966); Maxym, L., The History and Art of the Russian Icon (1986); Rice, Tamara Talbot, A Concise History of Russian Art, rev. ed. (1974); Sarabianov, Dimitri V., Russian Art: From Neoclassicism to the Avant-Garde, 1800-1917 (1990); Shvidkovsky, O. A., ed., Building in the U.S.S.R., 1917-1932 (1971); Sopotinsky, O., Art in the Soviet Union (1977); Valkenier, Elizabeth, Russian Realist Art, the State and Society (1977); Voyce, Arthur, The Art and Architecture of Medieval Russia (1967); Yablonskaya, M. N., Women Artists of Russia's New Age, 1900-1935 (1990).